What Brands Can Learn From Celebrities Entering The E-Commerce Space - Forbes
What Brands Can Learn From Celebrities Entering The E-Commerce Space - Forbes |
| What Brands Can Learn From Celebrities Entering The E-Commerce Space - Forbes Posted: 29 Feb 2020 01:25 PM PST  NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 07: Robyn Rihanna Fenty and Linda Fargo celebrate the launch of FENTY ... [+] Getty Images for Bergdorf GoodmanOn the heels of the Oscars, it's a good time to look at the relationship between celebrity and e-commerce. Actors, as well as athletes and other celebrities, have a long history of running side businesses, and sometimes these gain even more traction than their more public careers. But the celebrity approach to e-commerce is a little different than the way the average business person usually go about it. And there are a few things we can learn from their strategies. Develop A Following, Follow Through With Good Business The celebrity approach to e-commerce is to capitalize on an existing following. This gives celebrity business people a leg-up even in saturated, competitive markets like apparel. And celebrities and influencers sure do know how to capitalize on their following. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo's has 187 million followers on Instagram and makes an estimated $47.8 million from paid Instagram posts each year. That's more money than he makes from playing soccer. Because of his massive following, companies pay up to $1 million for a single post on his account and on average, he receives $975,000 per post. But celebrity itself doesn't guarantee success. A brand still has to deliver on its promises with quality goods, meaningful differentiators, fast shipping, and responsive customer service. Sacrifice a few of these things, and even a celebrity e-commerce brand can falter, as we saw with Daya by Zendaya. Beloved Gen Z actress and fashionista Zendaya founded her brand as a gender and body inclusive clothing line. But Zendaya ended up on the wrong end of social media backlash when production, distribution and customer services failed to deliver customer orders, forcing Zendaya to drop the production company. A business is still business, even with a famous avatar. You can start with a known public image and popularity, but your follow through has to be grounded in solid practices. Give Consumers What They Want When Rihanna launched her beauty line Fenty Beauty, the brand's Instagram account had 1.4 million followers within 4 days of its social media launch. Not to mention that the company hit $100 million in sales within its first few weeks and the company is worth more than $3 billion today. Fenty Beauty delivered something that thousands of beauty brands before it were unable (or unwilling) to do – provide a diverse collection of shades that match almost every skin color. The brand's seamless positioning reached a demographic of women often overlooked in marketing. Because the beauty brand solved an age-old pain point for consumers, its immediate popularity is not surprising. What is surprising is that no one thought to do this until now. Rihanna used her Instagram clout to its fullest. But Fenty Beauty doesn't rely on Rihanna's popularity as an artist. Its success is built on quality, in-demand products and good business practices. Rihanna's large following only triggered her company's launch into the spotlight. And therein is a key to the celebrity approach to e-commerce, which deliberately puts the cart before the horse: establish an audience first, and then shout your brand message from the social media rooftops. Create Consistent, Professional, And Curated Content Establishing an audience is easier when you're already a celebrity, but it is possible for anyone. The key, according to experts, is to keep your content fresh and timely. "If someone Googles you and the most recent thing they find is a movie, a football game, or an article from two years ago, they're going to take their attention elsewhere. Fans want to know what you're doing right now," says Mo Darwiche, CEO and co-founder of production studio Liquid Light. "Celebrity has currency. And that can translate into e-commerce returns. But celebrity also has a shelf life, one that's getting shorter every year." Darwiche and co-founder Scott Brown specialize in financing and producing professional YouTube channels for celebrities and athletes. The duo previously built out a YouTube channel for Hollywood's highest paid actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. At the time, this YouTube strategy was pioneering. But more actors and athletes are catching on. "Audiences are evolving and so are their tastes, and there's a rising expectation in quality that goes along with that," says Brown. "Investing time and attention into telling the best stories at the highest level is critical." Cam Newton and Kevin Hart have been among the team's partners. For these celebrities, a YouTube channel is a way to keep an audience engaged and reach new heights. And brands can learn a lot from this approach. Engaging an audience gives you freedom and flexibility to try out different ideas and test the waters for demand. Who knows? Your million dollar idea might even come from them. And when your audience has grown to maturity, it gives you the trigger for a successful launch. Whether you're a celebrity or not, building and engaging an audience means building a foundation upon which a business can thrive. Most e-commerce newbies create a logo and a name first. Perhaps they should be taking the celebrity approach, and putting the cart before the horse instead.  |
| Posted: 29 Feb 2020 03:30 AM PST  Associated Press Top celebrity birthdays on Leap Day, 2020 Birthday wishes go out to Antonio Sabato Jr., Ja Rule and all the other celebrities with birthdays today. Check out our slideshow below to see photos of famous people turning a year older on February 29th and learn an interesting fact about each of them. -Mike Rose, cleveland.com Don't Edit More celebrities with birthdays today Don't Edit Actor Joss Ackland is 92. Former astronaut Jack Lousma is 84. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins is 60. Legal affairs blogger Eugene Volokh is 52. Actor Antonio Sabato Jr. is 48. Poet, musician and hip-hop artist Saul Williams is 48. Rapper Ja Rule is 44. Singer-musician Mark Foster (Foster the People) is 36. Former NHL goaltender Cam Ward is 36. Don't Edit Other popular or historical birthdays on February 29th Don't Edit Al Rosen, former Cleveland Indian Jack Lousma, former NASA astronaut Bartholomew I, Patriarch of Constantinople (80) Dennis Farina, actor with The Associated Press and HistoryOrb.com Don't Edit Don't Edit  Associated Press Don't Edit Celebrity fun facts Danielle Fishel and the 'Boy Meets World' cast Jennifer Lawrence & Mila Kunis Don't Edit  Associated Press Don't Edit Movie and TV fun facts & more 20 romantic comedies to enjoy with your significant other The Royal Family: Who is next in line for the British Throne? 30 celebrities who were guest stars on 'The Office' 88 celebrities who were born in Canada In memoriam: Celebrities we lost in 2019 | 2018 25 Fun facts about 'Friends' | 25 celebrities who appeared on 'Friends' 25 actors you didn't know were on 'Game of Thrones' 25 actors you didn't know appeared in 'Boy Meets World' The MCU timeline: From 'Iron Man' to 'Avengers: Endgame' 20 fun facts about 'The Phantom Menace' for its 20th anniversary 15 fun facts about 'Napoleon Dynamite' to celebrate its 15th anniversary 20 fun facts about 'Love Actually' Relive your childhood with these 120 Hanna-Barbera cartoons Fun facts about 'The Big Lebowski' and 20 other movies turning 20 in 2018 Fun facts about 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' for its 20th anniversary Celebrate 'Dirty Dancing' turning 30 with these fun facts 20 fun facts about 'Scream' for its 20th anniversary 'Romeo + Juliet' turns 20: Where are they now Don't Edit Want to see more celebrity birthdays as well as additional fun facts posts? Follow me on Facebook for the latest by clicking the "like" button below. Don't Edit Don't Edit Don't Edit Subscribe to our free To Do Cleveland newsletter Cut through the noise with our expert picks and recommendations for restaurants, bars, concerts, nightlife, movies, festivals, family fun, theatrical performances, art exhibitions and more with To Do Cleveland, delivered every Thursday to your inbox. SIGN UP NOW Don't Edit  |
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